Real Teatro Bellini - Palermo

The Bellini is the oldest theater in the historic center of Palermo, with a complex and tortured history.

Here the theater 'dei Travaglini' or 'di Travaglino' (named after a popular mask from Palermo) was built, where farces and comedies were performed; also called the 'theater of Santa Caterina' , because it was located near the church of the same name. The 'Travaglino', enlarged and embellished, was later run by the same family of the Marquises Valguarnera, who used other rooms in their palace and gave it the name of their family name, Teatro di Santa Lucia, where mainly operas to music were performed, at preferred comedies.

It was closed by an earthquake in 1726 and reopened in 1742, transformed into a small 'theater in Italian style', with four floors of boxes (15 in each floor), 500 spectators and rich in decoration.

When the Neapolitan court moved to Palermo during the 1799 revolution , Queen Maria Carolina became an avid visitor, so much so that it became the Royal Theater Carolino in her honor and was again enlarged and renovated. The project was entrusted to Nicolò Puglia, who integrated other rooms in the palace, expanded the building's floor plan and created an organic "Italian-style theater structure", with a "pierced sky", backstage, a large harmonic arch and with particular attention for acoustic qualities. In 1837 the Valguarnera Marquis sold the entire building to Andrea Bignone.

In 1860 the theater was dedicated to the great Catanian musician Vincenzo Bellini.

A devastating fire, on March 14, 1964, closed the theater forever, until its recent reopening in 2000 by the Teatro Biondo Stabile di Palermo.

Willem Vandenameele